The general secretary of AIADMK and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami speaks to media persons at Katpadi in Vellore on July 14, 2024
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The general secretary of AIADMK and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday, July 14, 2024 said that the killing of K. Thiruvengadam, one of the 11 persons involved in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader K. Armstrong, in a police firing incident looks suspicious as the police team seems to have not taken adequate security measures before taking a murder accused to his possible hideout.

While speaking to journalists at Katpadi here, Mr. Palaniswami said that there are certain standard procedures that need to be followed while taking accused out of custody. Handcuffs of the accused and an adequate police team in such an operation are among them. “Based on media reports, it seems the police firing incident shows that standard procedures were not adhered to by the police. Also, the slain accused had himself surrendered to the police after the murder. With all these events in the backdrop, the incident (police firing) looks suspicious,” he said.

Mr. Palaniswami’s response comes hours after murder accused Thiruvengadam, who is involved in three murders, was taken to a hideout where he claimed he had stashed the weapons used for the Armstrong murder near Madhavaram (Chennai) at around 5.30 a.m. on Sunday. “In fact, family members of Armstrong and his BSP cadres were demanding the State government to arrest people who are truly behind the murder. Also, what was the urgency of the police to take the murder accused early in the day to his hideout without proper security measures in place?,” he asked.

Cauvery water

On Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s assertion that the State was not in a position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK general secretary said that the Supreme Court has clearly said in its orders earlier that a certain quantum of water from Cauvery river should be released by Karnataka to lower riparian States like Tamil Nadu every month. However, Karnataka never did it. “Being a member of the INDIA bloc, DMK should pressurize the ruling Congress government in Karnataka to release Tamil Nadu share of Cauvery water,” he said.

Accompanied by former AIADMK Minister K.C. Veeramani, Mr. Palaniswami was here to condole industrialist A.J. Sekar Reddy on the demise of his father at his residence in Katpadi in Vellore.

The Chennai Police Commissioner has been transferred, three days after Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief K Armstrong was killed in Chennai. Sandeep Rai Rathore, an IPS officer formerly with the NDRF and CISF, will be replaced by senior IPS officer A Arun.

Mr Arun is presently Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order. Mr Rathore has been now appointed as DGP, Police Training College, Chennai. Davidson Devasirvatham has replaced Mr Arun as state ADGP, Law and Order.

Eleven men have been arrested for the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party’s Tamil Nadu chief in Chennai. Mr Armstrong was hacked to death by six men on bikes near his house on Friday. 

Police officials said this could be a revenge murder, linked to the killing of a gangster, Arcot Suresh, last year. A senior police officer told NDTV, “Arcot Suresh’s family have been harbouring suspicion that it was Armstrong who engineered the murder”.
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said he had ordered the police to investigate the “shocking” murder “expeditiously”.

After his death, the BSP leader’s wife K Porkodi had filed a petition in court, seeking approval to bury his body at the party’s Chennai office. However, the Madras High Court ruled that he could not be buried at the party’s office in the state capital, backing the DMK government’s stand.

BSP chief Mayawati, who visited Chennai to attend the funeral for the leader, has demanded a CBI investigation into the attack. “I urge the state government, especially the CM, to ensure law and order in the state. The weaker sections, in particular, should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested. Since that is not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI,” she said.